week 2 Photo contest CLOSED
- Thread starter BossDog
- Start date
OkieCowboy
Well-Known Member
Took a little more time to get the lighting right... softer light like I wanted, and sharpened the pic... changed to a led bulb set up
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J. Doyle
Dealer - Purveyor
Here's one I did awhile ago. This was shot outdoors on a bright sunny day with some big puffy white cloud cover. The knife was in my light tent. Hand held point and shoot digital camera on the macro setting. My camera has no setting to adjust the f-stop, shutter or white balance, that I can find. I also have NO idea how to photoshop pictures and never have retouched anything. Rather, I spend a ton of time playing with lighting and/or waiting for the right natural conditions.
I'm not saying that's a good way to go. In fact I'd love some info on what type of reflectors and lights and more importantly how and where to position them for specific effects. Also how to use photo shop would be something I'd like to read over. Agreeing that one should NEVER use any photo altering device to hide flaws. But so far, every picture I've ever taken has been as is with no altering of any kind.
Knife is a small fighter I hand forged. 1075 steel, sharp clip, blackwood handle with bronze frame, takedown. The amazing sheath is by Claude Scott.
Critique away Gents.
I'm not saying that's a good way to go. In fact I'd love some info on what type of reflectors and lights and more importantly how and where to position them for specific effects. Also how to use photo shop would be something I'd like to read over. Agreeing that one should NEVER use any photo altering device to hide flaws. But so far, every picture I've ever taken has been as is with no altering of any kind.
Knife is a small fighter I hand forged. 1075 steel, sharp clip, blackwood handle with bronze frame, takedown. The amazing sheath is by Claude Scott.
Critique away Gents.
Ebbtide
Well-Known Member
Week 2 submission…
Something from the archives, shot before I had my light tent and hot lights.
I'm a sucker for reflections.
This was shot on a black plexiglass scrap.
Here is the set
The light source is an old light box like you'd use to view your slides or trace artwork like a cartoonist.
The large vertical black paper kept the plexi looking black, making the reflection stand out and blocked out the light from the over the tool bench fluorescents.
While the light from the light box is nice and soft, there was too much light hitting the knives and washing out the reflection.
I took a black piece of plastic and put it across the bottom of the light box to block that direct light. The light spills over the board lighting the knives, but not the plexi.
You can see the tripod on the right. I took the camera off it to shoot this pic
But you can see the angle and height that the camera was at.
The only function of the large white cylinder on the left is to hold up the black background sheet.
The majority of post processing on this shot was getting the background black (easy) and removing dust and lint (maddening).
I hope that inspires some experimentation out there
Something from the archives, shot before I had my light tent and hot lights.
I'm a sucker for reflections.
This was shot on a black plexiglass scrap.
Here is the set
The light source is an old light box like you'd use to view your slides or trace artwork like a cartoonist.
The large vertical black paper kept the plexi looking black, making the reflection stand out and blocked out the light from the over the tool bench fluorescents.
While the light from the light box is nice and soft, there was too much light hitting the knives and washing out the reflection.
I took a black piece of plastic and put it across the bottom of the light box to block that direct light. The light spills over the board lighting the knives, but not the plexi.
You can see the tripod on the right. I took the camera off it to shoot this pic
But you can see the angle and height that the camera was at.
The only function of the large white cylinder on the left is to hold up the black background sheet.
The majority of post processing on this shot was getting the background black (easy) and removing dust and lint (maddening).
I hope that inspires some experimentation out there
N.N
Well-Known Member
I thought I still saw some dust and lint, but then realized it was my computer screen.
Justin Presson
Well-Known Member
Shot this outside with cloud cover with my Samsung galaxy S5 cell phone then I edited on my phone with a photo app.
Freds Edge
Well-Known Member
One more try , camera is a Canon Power Shot SX100 (old) , I like theme shots so this has a Kirinite Desert Camo handle so a desert background .Buddy Thomason
Well-Known Member
Usual set-up: two lights through diffusion paper suspended above the knife with white foam board reflecting light back in to lessen shadows. The intent is to make sure the shiny parts of the knife reflect the diffusion paper and/or the white foam board so as to avoid random color casts and splotches or un-evenness of illumination.
Knife is visually sharp/crisp end to end and all the knife's important features and details are shown.
The background and props are appropriate for the style in which the knife was made and the colors in the image as a whole go well together.
The knife is separated from the background so it 'pops' off the page to get the viewer's attention. This is best done by using an f-stop (aperture) that makes for a shallower depth of field (lower number f-stop like say 4.5 as opposed to 11) and/or by using photo editing software to select the background out from the knife and blurring/darkening it slightly.
Most people agree that the Randall Model 25 is a 'beautiful' design - point being that it is always easier to photograph an attractive knife than one of ho-hum or unbalanced design.
Knife is visually sharp/crisp end to end and all the knife's important features and details are shown.
The background and props are appropriate for the style in which the knife was made and the colors in the image as a whole go well together.
The knife is separated from the background so it 'pops' off the page to get the viewer's attention. This is best done by using an f-stop (aperture) that makes for a shallower depth of field (lower number f-stop like say 4.5 as opposed to 11) and/or by using photo editing software to select the background out from the knife and blurring/darkening it slightly.
Most people agree that the Randall Model 25 is a 'beautiful' design - point being that it is always easier to photograph an attractive knife than one of ho-hum or unbalanced design.
MVPeterson
Well-Known Member
I took this one outside also, but I used a white board to reflect light, and eliminate reflections in the blade.
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